The Idea Book

Tonight i was lucky enough to meet up with Fredrik Haren of interesting .org we were discussing his decision to moving into the upstairs of our cafe (our fingers and toes crossed that he will!) and he gave me a copy of his lovely book "THE IDEA BOOK", beautifully cloth bound and so pretty that you'd think twice about writting in it! hehe. I'm looking forward to savoring its contents as i jot down my ideas and squiggles. You can find it in borders bookstore, amazon.com and ideabook.org. (just to name a few) Perfect as a gift or a lil' treat for yourself.

Review from amazon.com The book is nicely balanced between 150 pages about ideas and 150 blank pages for your notes or drawings. The stories or lessons are set apart in olive green so you can easily find them. Each follows the format of title, subtitle, background and activity. The activity might be one or more questions or a challenge such as see if you can manage to listen to 50 ideas without saying anything negative about them. Each story is about a page, but no more than two. Some of the stories I've seen before, but most were new. They all illustrated a point and helped rekindle ideas or make me think. Some stories even made me laugh in public such as Einstein's delivering the same exam twice. You can get a flavor for the book by downloading the free 30 page sample PDF file from the site. At first, I was hesitant about the size and binding. The book is hardbound and 8 x 6 and about an inch think. Previously, when I've recorded my ideas, I've used a spiral bound lined notebook. I preferred the spiral bound as it is easier for me to write and rip out pages. However, the solid construction of this binding makes me think in more permanent terms. In some ways, this format is making me more disciplined as I find myself setting aside time to read the book and capture ideas. When I fill up my 150 pages, I will undoubtedly hang onto the book. Hopefully, Fredrik will provide periodic updates or volumes so I continue my learning and idea capturing. Fredrik Haren, who bills himself as Sweden's most popular creativity lecturer, has launched an English language version of The Idea Book, a unique, 300-page creative thinking diary that alternates between thoughtful, inspiring essays that are designed to stimulate your creative muse, and blank pages where you can write down your ideas.